You can really tell that the developers learned a lot of lessons from Bloodrayne (and got a much higher budget), and it shows as this game is a much more competently made than the original. Oddly, this also meant the game become less enjoyable.
The original game occupied this weird place where its nonsensical ideas and low budget led to a fascinating and charming game, teetering between "so bad, it's good" and absolute garbage. Terminal Reality, in an attempt to make a superior game, managed to make a game that's on paper better but ultimately is still just okay. It's good, but doesn't live up to the absolute stupidity that is the original Bloodrayne.
While the original game felt like Terminal Reality trying to make their own version of Tomb Raider, this game feels like they played Sands of Time and said "We can do this". There's a heavier emphasis on platforming, with the game frequently tasking you with climbing and swinging from poles. There's also multiple instances of rail grinding, just in case you forgot Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was still popular at the time. It all works, but that's really as much as you can say about it.
The combat is serviceable, and definitely way flashier than the original. The executions Rayne can perform while feeding on an enemy are particularly cool to watch, and the briefs instances of environmental interaction in combat is pretty fun. The addition of special moves was neat, but I never really felt a need to use them, as the basic kick and blade attacks got the job done. I also felt like guns were de-emphasized in this game, as they all now are fueled by blood that you drain from enemies. However, sucking blood is also how you refill your health so I rarely refueled the guns as I found keeping my health up to be a greater priority in fights. As such, I often forgot guns even existed, except outside of certain boss fights who you need to use them.
I will say a large improvement over the original is the use of the vampire powers. In the original game the vampire powers were just there. Here, they factor so much more into the combat, and I found myself utilizing them for most encounters.
The story just kind of exists, but does pick up well from plot threads set up in the first game. The character interactions are pretty fun to watch though, so the cutscenes still delivered. The voice acting, while having not changed any actors, has significantly improved. The entire cast gives good performances but special mention needs to be made to Laura Bailey as the main character Rayne. She nails it. Sadly no Japanese dub this time, so no Romi Park role reprisal.
In terms of length, I'd argue the game is 2-3 hours too long. While the later levels really deliver in terms of graphics and tone, the game just feels like it's dragging its feet to the conclusion. Not saying any levels needed to be cut, but maybe truncated.
Ultimately, I like Bloodrayne 2. It's okay at best, and honestly that's best and worst thing I can say about it. Everything it does you've seen done better in dozens of other titles.
It lost a lot of the charm of original and replaced it with early 2000s edge. That's not necessarily a bad thing, this game has it's own charm and it rocks that well. I guess in the process of becoming better, the game lost a lot of made the original a truly dumb experience, and what this game does wasn't enough to fill the void left behind. That being said, if you can find it cheap I'd say give it a shot. The console versions are largely identical to the original PC release, though you do lose out on mods. Sadly, the original PC release is no longer for sale, having been replaced by the recent Terminal Cut. That version add some nice new visual effects and upscaled cutscenes if that means anything to you.
The original game occupied this weird place where its nonsensical ideas and low budget led to a fascinating and charming game, teetering between "so bad, it's good" and absolute garbage. Terminal Reality, in an attempt to make a superior game, managed to make a game that's on paper better but ultimately is still just okay. It's good, but doesn't live up to the absolute stupidity that is the original Bloodrayne.
While the original game felt like Terminal Reality trying to make their own version of Tomb Raider, this game feels like they played Sands of Time and said "We can do this". There's a heavier emphasis on platforming, with the game frequently tasking you with climbing and swinging from poles. There's also multiple instances of rail grinding, just in case you forgot Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was still popular at the time. It all works, but that's really as much as you can say about it.
The combat is serviceable, and definitely way flashier than the original. The executions Rayne can perform while feeding on an enemy are particularly cool to watch, and the briefs instances of environmental interaction in combat is pretty fun. The addition of special moves was neat, but I never really felt a need to use them, as the basic kick and blade attacks got the job done. I also felt like guns were de-emphasized in this game, as they all now are fueled by blood that you drain from enemies. However, sucking blood is also how you refill your health so I rarely refueled the guns as I found keeping my health up to be a greater priority in fights. As such, I often forgot guns even existed, except outside of certain boss fights who you need to use them.
I will say a large improvement over the original is the use of the vampire powers. In the original game the vampire powers were just there. Here, they factor so much more into the combat, and I found myself utilizing them for most encounters.
The story just kind of exists, but does pick up well from plot threads set up in the first game. The character interactions are pretty fun to watch though, so the cutscenes still delivered. The voice acting, while having not changed any actors, has significantly improved. The entire cast gives good performances but special mention needs to be made to Laura Bailey as the main character Rayne. She nails it. Sadly no Japanese dub this time, so no Romi Park role reprisal.
In terms of length, I'd argue the game is 2-3 hours too long. While the later levels really deliver in terms of graphics and tone, the game just feels like it's dragging its feet to the conclusion. Not saying any levels needed to be cut, but maybe truncated.
Ultimately, I like Bloodrayne 2. It's okay at best, and honestly that's best and worst thing I can say about it. Everything it does you've seen done better in dozens of other titles.
It lost a lot of the charm of original and replaced it with early 2000s edge. That's not necessarily a bad thing, this game has it's own charm and it rocks that well. I guess in the process of becoming better, the game lost a lot of made the original a truly dumb experience, and what this game does wasn't enough to fill the void left behind. That being said, if you can find it cheap I'd say give it a shot. The console versions are largely identical to the original PC release, though you do lose out on mods. Sadly, the original PC release is no longer for sale, having been replaced by the recent Terminal Cut. That version add some nice new visual effects and upscaled cutscenes if that means anything to you.